Cannot fully connect to VM guest machines from other physical PCs on home network

[jjamjatra]

VMWare Workstation 6.5 is running on a Windows Vista 64bit PC. Thanks to Workstation we have 2 guest machines running: TerriVM and MattVM (both of these run Windows XP SP2). We are attempting to get virtual networking configured so we can access the files of both of these VM guest systems from other real PCs connected to this home network.

We think we are close but we can't quite get it right... Here is what we've done so far:

• On VM Workstation, we set "Host Virtual Network Mapping" to use VMnet0 with the setting "Bridge to an automatically chosen adapter".

• On each VM guest (i.e. using Windows explorer on XP), we rightmouse on the C disk, click "Sharing" tab, set shareName to "C_Disk" and check both boxes labeled "_Share this folder on the network_" and "_Allow network users to change my files_".

Symptoms:

On "JohnsRealXP" PC, we go to Windows Explorer, My Computer, Map Network Drive, type into Folder textbox: *
TerriVM\C_Disk* and assign drive letter T. We see all the folders on this shared drive and can open files on them. So that is good.

On "JohnsRealXP" PC, we go to Windows Explorer, My Computer, *Map

Network Drive*, type into Folder textbox: *
MattVM\C_Disk*

and assign drive letter M. We get a message box "_The network path
mattvm\C_Disk could not be found_".

Alternatively, we type just
mattvm\ into the Folder box and click "Browse" and get a dialog box where we drill down from "Entire Network" to "Microsoft Windows Network" to "Workgroup" where both TerriVM and MattVM are listed as computers on the network. Clicking the+ sign next to MattVM gives an hourglass and never enables the OK button and I have to cancel.

In summary, I think we've attempted to share both of these virtual machines using the same techniques and connect to them in similar fashion, but one connects properly and the other machine can be seen but no shared resources on it can be accessed. Can anyone suggest something possibly overlooked or something to try? Thanks so much in advance.

[AWo]

• On VM Workstation, we set "Host Virtual Network Mapping" to use VMnet0 with the setting "Bridge to an automatically chosen adapter".

Don't use the automatically choosen setting, set it to you adapter of choice.

• On each VM guest (i.e. using Windows explorer on XP), we rightmouse on the C disk, click "Sharing" tab, set shareName to "C_Disk" and check

both boxes labeled "_Share this folder on the network_" and "_Allow network users to change my files_".

Check the share and NTFS rights. You need at least Read Only rights on the share and as the NTFS right to see and use it.

On "JohnsRealXP" PC, we go to Windows Explorer, My Computer, *Map

Network Drive*, type into Folder textbox: *
MattVM\C_Disk*

and assign drive letter M. We get a message box "_The network path
mattvm\C_Disk could not be found_".

Post "ipconfig /all" from the host and both guests.

AWo

VCP 3 & 4

\[:o]===\[o:]

=Would you like to have this posting as a ringtone on your cell phone?=

=Send "Posting" to 911 for only $999999,99!=

[jjamjatra]

I want to thank you for responding with these good ideas.

"*Don't use the automatically choosen setting, set it to you adapter of

choice"*

There is only one other choice: NVIDIA nForce. I originally tried this but I will go back and set it explicitly to this per your recommendation.

*"Check the share and NTFS rights. You need at least Read Only rights on

the share and as the NTFS right to see and use it."*

The XP machines running as VM guests are both Home Edition. Not part of a domain - only members of WORKGROUP. Perhaps that is why I don't see anything about "permissions" on the share(s) established. When I rightmouse on C disk of each VM (xp) machine and click "Sharing and Security", I am presented a dialog with tabs: General, Tools, Hardware, Sharing, Quota (no "Security" tab). So I cannot really see NTFS rights but as I mentioned in first post the check boxes labeled "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow
network users to change my files" are both checked. Strangely,
terriVM\C_Disk can be seen and shared but
mattvm\C_Disk cannot be seen/shared.

Could this be significant? -- Back when these VMs were first built, TerriVM was built first from Windows media and barebones configuration was done. Then I remember I cloned the VM file giving rise to another VM which I named MattVM. Each has been using these without problems for months though never online at same time and no previous attempts at sharing their files on the network. I am guessing that might have some bearing on the reason why the share for MattVM cannot be used now???

"Post "ipconfig /all" from the host and both guests"

(in order: TerriVM, MattVM, GatewayHOST follow....makes post rather long; thanks for your time)

C:\Documents and Settings\Terri.LOCALADM-GNX7DB>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : TerriVM

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mshome.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mshome.net

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Accelerated AMD PCNet Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-7D-F2-3F

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.106

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.105.28.12

68.105.29.12

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, July 18, 2010 11:46:26 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 19, 2010 11:46:26 AM

-

---

Microsoft Windows XP http://Version 5.1.2600

(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Terri.LOCALADM-GNX7DB>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MattVM

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Accelerated AMD PCNet Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-02-57-D8

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.110

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.105.28.12

68.105.29.12

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, July 18, 2010 2:34:36 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 19, 2010 2:34:36 PM

C:\Documents and Settings\Terri.LOCALADM-GNX7DB>

-

---

Microsoft Windows http://Version 6.0.6001

Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\LocalAdmin>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GatewayHostPC

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mshome.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mshome.net

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-68-47-12-41

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a1e5:d6d0:90e7:1e0e%10(Preferred)

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.105(Preferred)

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, July 18, 2010 3:00:13 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 19, 2010 3:00:12 AM

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.105.28.12

68.105.29.12

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{1382C867-F693-43B0-A71F-1B14D6A9E

1E6}

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e74:1860:1b42:3f57:ff96(Pref

erred)

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1860:1b42:3f57:ff96%11(Preferred)

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{1382C867-F693-43B0-A71F-1B14D6A9E

1E6}

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{1382C867-F693-43B0-A71F-1B14D6A9E

1E6}

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 14:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{1382C867-F693-43B0-A71F-1B14D6A9E

1E6}

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 16:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mshome.net

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #5

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\LocalAdmin>

[AWo · Accepted solution]

You're IP setup looks fine, the MAC address is different (what sometimes is not the case when people clone their guests). So nothing to complain about here.

What about firewalls?

Is NetBIOS enabled on MattVM (he shows an unknown node type).

MattVM also has no DNS search suffix. Have you tried to map the drive with "

=Send "Posting" to 911 for only $999999,99!=

[jjamjatra]

Dear AWo,

Thank you so much for your attention on this problem. When you mentioned Firewalls, I visited the Windows Firewall setting for the share on MattVM. I noticed that it was ON...so I changed to OFF and this allowed the
MattVM\sharename to be detected and used.

Probably a few more mysteries remain...for example, after noting the Win Firewall setting above and changing it, I went back to TerriVM and checked the same for the share I set up a couple of days ago. Strangely, it was set to ON and yet I had no problem connecting to that share from the beginning.

Finally, per your suggestion, I started issuing cmds: nbtstat -n on the various computers. I know nothing about NetBios but ultimately this may have something to do with the problem.

The problem is resolved, however, because Matt has his own new notebook PC now and the days of his VM usage are numbered.

Thanks again for all your attention on this and the help you provided. :smileygrin:

[AWo]

I assume it was the Windows firewall which was turned on. But switching it on or off is maybe not enough. Compare the exceptions configured in the firewall, if there are any, between both hosts. Maybe one of them has some exceptions which allow to get to the share.

AWo

VCP 3 & 4

\[:o]===\[o:]

=Would you like to have this posting as a ringtone on your cell phone?=

=Send "Posting" to 911 for only $999999,99!=